Curtain fastener



R. A. MOORE CURTAIN FASTENER Filed Dec. 13,

March 4 i924.l

Patented IMar. 4, 1924.4

lUNITED STATES 1,485,990 PATE-NT OFFICE.

BiOBERT A. MOORE, F NEW YORK, N. Y.

CURTAIN FASTENEB.

Application led-December 13, 1922. Serial No. 606,568.

, devices used on carriage 0r automobile curcorresponding -practically tains, draperies, and other analogous locations.

Among the objects of the invention Vis to provide a fastener of the character indicated that will be positive and secure in its holding qualifications; one that is easier to fasten and also easier to unfasten when desired than previous devices heretofore employed in this art; a device including a com-- bined socket member and head adapting the improvement for successive attachment of fasteners to a single initial base or head,-

and various other advantages and features of improvement that will appear as this description` progresses more specifically.

With the foregoing and other objects inV view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, 1n which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a. dispersed view of several cooperating parts, certain of which are in longitudinal section.

Fig. 1 is a detail perspective view of the tension member. of the first modification.

Fig. 2 is an assembled view of two of the parts of Figi 1, the main features being the same, but indicating a slight modification of attachment. v

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

'F ig. 4 is a view of a modification, the view to a portion of 1 in character.

ig. 5 is a view` corresponding in character to that of Fi 2 and showing the parts' vof Fig. 4 assemb ed.

Fig?. 6 is a vertical transverse Section yner washer l21.

about on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5 but with parts broken away to show construction. Referring now more specifically to the drawings and first to the first four figures, I show a separable fastener comprising essentially a head 10 and a socket member 11, the latter being arranged to receive the former and make positive interlock therewith when either of these members is turned around its axis with respect to .the other.

As indicated the head 10 may be connected by a neck 12 either to any suitable fixed anchorage means or to the socket member asa rigid or integral part thereof,`ac cording to the place or use for which the device is intended. In Fig. 1 the first head member is shown connected to a screw 13 for attachment to a carriage bow or other fixed support, and when so fixed the head of course is stationary and rigid. In the other parts of this figure each head 10 is indicated as an integral part of the socket member 11. y The main portion of the socket member 1s of a hollow cylindrical nature though the exterior surface thereof is slightly tapered at 14 to facilitate the assemblage of the parts. On opposite sides the otherwise open mouth of the socket is provided with two parallel lips 15 between which the head 10 of the mating member may pass inward into the socket and which lips take under the shoulder portions 16 ofthe head ,whenthe socketis rotated through 90,thus makingpositive interlock between the head;=and socket. The depth of the. socket isf but slightly greater than the length of the"h'ead in the direction of the axis of thev device.

Any suitable means may be provided to secure the socket member to the part intended, as for instance the curtain 17. To this end I show a plate or washer 18 fitted into a groove 19 formed around the shoulder portion of the socket member, the washer being provided with prongs .20 `Aprojecting,through the curtain and clinchinginwardaround an in- It will be borne in mind, however, thatV with. respect to such `details which are more or yless conventional, I do not the scope of this invention. however, at this time, that thls means for se curing the socket member is suicientlforf ermits free rotation of=1t this purpose and ereinafter noted. 1*.:

socket2 except as While it rs desirable for the head 10 h rio wish to be lrestricted in the inter rotation of oeit to say,

the head accidentally. For this reason l provide a suitable tension device for resisting .the unintentional rotation of thev socket member. In this modification the resistance means includes a leaf spring 22, see Fig. 1, the same being indicated as comprising a ridge 23 and two wings 2-1 extending subf stantially diametrically outward from the iiattening the spring ridge, the ends of the wings being snapped or forced outward into recesses 25 formed in the bottom of the socket. By this means the spring is self retained in its place after assemblage and isheld from rotation therein. The end ofthe head is provided'with a notch or groove 26 parallel to theplonger dimension of the head, while the ridge`23 of the spring lies at right angles to the longer dimension of the space between the lips 15. In other words, as pertaining to the combined socket and head structure, the ridge is at right angles to the groove in the head. `In Figs. 2 and 3 instead of employing a screw anchorage the iirst head 10 is formed rigidly upon a base 13 which isl secured to a curtain 17 or its equivalent, as by means of a pronged washer 18 and inner washer or plate 21. The head and co-operating socket member, however, are shown as being essentially the same as in Fig. 1, and so the manner of assemblage is the same in both cases. The arrow a, Fig. 1, is intended to indicate that the center member is being directed over the head 10 at the left. It will be understood that when the socket member is moved over the head in this manner the ridge 23 of the tension member will strike directly against the face of the head, and to complete the attachment for fastening thel operator will push slightly upon the then outer head portion of the socket member, compressing or sufficiently for the lips 15 to pass under the shoulders 16, and then upon rotation of the socket member and attached head, the spring turning with it will snap into the notch or groove 26, asshown in Fig. 2. A certain amount of tension will be retained in the spring in this locked position thereby preventing all possibility of rattle of the interlocked parts and accidental separation thereof.

It will be noted that the head 10 that is a part of the attached socket member, in addi# tion to its having served as a iin er piece for turning the socket member for ockmg purposes, constitutes a fastening head, for the next socket member in turn, as suggested by the arrow b in Fig. 1. Any socketmember, being free to turn in its holder 18 may be attached to any previously xed head, irrespective of the direction or .position of auch or guides 311 head. `'In the illustration ofFig. 1, however,

is attached the will be turned when the rst socket member head of such socket member through 90 the attachment of the next socket member. It is a common condition, especially in connection with carriage side curtains, for the corners of two curtains to be desired to be attached to the same fixed button, one after the other. r1`his improvement makes such condition easily availed of, especially because of the rigid nature of the attachment. 'llo release a socket member from a iixed head the operator simply turns the socket member through 90, increasing slightly the tension in the spring 22 at such time, and when this so as to be in direct position forI partial rotation is completed the force stored gree of force is required from the operators fingers, in this case the power required to in# itially turn the I negligible as to be' barelynoticed, and yet the power stored in the tension member serves practically to cause the automatic separation of the parts after the socket member is turned. l

The construction illustrated in the last three figures di'lers from'that of the irst set of figures only in the detail of the tension means. The manner of' assemblage and usage therefore be understood as being the same as 'has been described in detail above. bored at 27 along its longer dimension at right angles to the axis of the anchorage 13j, and in the endsA of this bore are fitted two balls 28 between which is located atension spring 29 tendingto projectthe balls out= The socket mem- The head 10 is" socket member is so nearly the socket member is provided with notches i against the points of which the balls 28 rideor strike when the head is received directly into the socket, thus putting the tension tension under the force applied to thesocket member for forcing the parts together and rotating the socket member.

ever, the force stored in the spring 29 will -be exerted in part to `throw the balls outward into the sockets 30, holding the arts from accidental separation. When re easing the parts, however, the operator will, as before stated, rotate the socket member through 90, bringing the balls into or adjacent vto the points of the notches 31, thus permitting the stored power in the spring to exert a member 29 under greaterA When the ro tation of the socket member is effected, howforce tending to separate the balls, driving them outward into the notches and thereby causing the direct separation of the parts in the direction Yof the general axis thereof. As before explained any head of the character set forth in Figs. 4 and 5 is adapted to receive any socket of the same type of device, so that any desired number of these fasteners may be attached in succession, the same as explained in Fig. 1.

I claim:

1. In a fastener of the nature set forth, the combination of a head member having a lateral projection constituting a lockingv shoulder, a socket member having an opening to receive said head and having also a lip bounding one side of the opening, said shoulder being adapted to pass inward be yond the 1i and make 'positive interlock therewith w en one of the membersis'turned at an an 1e to the other,.and spring means bearing irectly against the extreme end of the head and reacting aga-inst the socket member and tending to resist the turning movement aforesaid.

2. In a fastener of the nature set forth, the combination of a head having shoulders, a socket member having lips between which the head is receivable into the socket and adapted for positive interlocking action with said shoulders when one of the members is turned with respect to the other, and spring means bearing directly against the end of the head and the socket member and tending to resist the turning movement relatively between the parts and serving to separate the members When one of them is returned to original position.

l3. In a separable fastener, the combinationof a head, and a socket member for cooperation therewith, and adapted for positive interlock when one is turned relative' to the other, said socket member having a head constituting the counterpart of the first mentioned head for the reception of a second similar socket member.

4. In a fastener as set forth, the combination of a head provided with a groove, a

'co-operating socket member adapted to receive said head and make positive interlock therewith when one is turned at an angle to the other, and a tension device carried by the socket member and co-operating with said groove to prevent undesired unlocking of the fastener.

5. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which the means acting between the head and the socket member tending to resist the turning movement is a member fixed to the socket member for rotation therewith.

6. A fastener of the character set forth comprising a head having a groove, a socket member to receive and co-operating with said head, the head and the socket member having co-operating interlocking parts, and a tension member having a projection cooperating with the groove aforesaid for pre- A venting accidental separation of the head and socket member.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

ROBERT A. MOORE. 

